500 Tögrög Snow Leopard

Mongolia's niobium coinage program launched in the early 2000s as part of a broader collector-market strategy adopted by several smaller central banks following Austria's success with its colored niobium series beginning in 2003. The blue-tinted niobium core is a product of anodization — a controlled oxidation process applied after striking that fixes the color permanently into the metal surface.

The snow leopard (*Panthera uncia*) population across the Mongolian Altai was estimated at fewer than 1,000 individuals at the time of issue.